


The Letter

by Clara_Siey



Category: Vinland Saga (Manga)
Genre: Drama, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Sad, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21638632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clara_Siey/pseuds/Clara_Siey
Summary: It's the first time Hild heard Thorfinn cry.
Relationships: Canute/Thorfinn (Vinland Saga)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 73





	The Letter

There was a knock on the door. "Hild?" Thorfinn’s voice followed. The night before the wedding thanks to Halfdan's blessing, the women in Thorfinn’s crew took residence in the house of a local gythia. The gythia has a reputation for being kind and equal to others and even accepted Hild in her household despite her being Christian. 

She covered herself and opened the door to see Thorfinn with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, as if he wasn't able to sleep for a few hours now. 

It wasn't too much of a surprise for Hild because for two years at sea and temporary residence from here and there, Thorfinn would wake up in the middle of the night and walk around. She would even hear him sing songs and on one occasion, asked him what he was singing and he said, "Ragnar's lullabies."

"It's the middle of the night. What are you doing here?" The hunter asked and Thorfinn bowed his head with a frown. "Just a small favor, but it would mean a lot if you help me." The warrior said and presented her with a paper and a sharpened coal attached to a stick. "I need to give a letter to someone." 

Hild doesn't see it that threatening, so she agreed to help him. 

Thorfinn was blank the whole process of the transcription. His exhaustion fueled his instincts to allow the words and its meaning to overflow from his mouth, often going too fast that Hild had to remind him to slow down. 

Hild was in pure shock to know this side of her captain. The first paragraph of the letter was full of blissful reminiscent with hands tied in war. What really took the writer aback was Thorfinn’s relationship with the Emperor of the North Sea Empire. 

Of course, he's Thorfinn Karlsefni. He is a well-known legend that bested Thorkell the Tall, who is also a close ally of King Canute. 

The next paragraph was slowly transitioning from emptiness to hope, reunion and rebirth, but soon followed with — en excerpt from the transcription — "I love you but such a world of tradition will never bear the union of two men of opposite ranks and the customary of marriage."

Hild continued to write but worry soon came in contact with her rational mind and asked, "What about Gudrid? She's your wife." And Thorfinn replied with sincerity. "We have talked about this topic before and she understands that Canute has a place in my heart that no one can take." 

She was still worried for the two's beautiful marriage now that she knows Thorfinn's sad and tragic love affair with the Danish king, but she just agreed with Thorfinn's words. 

_'It's their problem, not mine.'_ Hild thought. 

"Does anyone know this in our crew?" 

"None. Only you, Einar and Gudrid."

Hild nodded, returning to write the following words Thorfinn said. 

After rechecking the words, sentences and paragraphs, Hild asked if the king will believe that this came from Thorfinn and he agreed. But just in case, he grabbed the charcoal pen and with inexperienced hand in literacy, he wrote what it seemed to be, _'my love'._

Thorfinn left with a sad expression with the letter close to his chest, protected by his battle-scarred hands. Hild returned to her bed and thought about the things she wrote in that letter according to Thorfinn’s words. 

She remembered a particular paragraph and it said, "We were once boys who bathed in cold rivers, sing lullabies as we warm our bodies. I remember when you taught me how to write _'my love'_ and it has been the only two words I can write, but I refuse to use and say that to anyone aside from you. The words are too precious… like you."

But Hild reevaluated Thorfinn’s being when she wrote the ending paragraph of the letter. She fears that he will hurt Gudrid with his formidable love for King Canute.

The ending said, "Please beg Mother Moon for us to meet again, so I can let you go." He said those words with a twisted expression as if he was forcing himself to believe them. 

But in truth, he can never let him go. 

When Hild closed her eyes, she heard singing and sobbing slowly fading away in the distance. 

**Author's Note:**

> In The King's Lost Love, the final poem mentioned there that King Canute received a letter in a form of a scroll. Well, this is how the letter came to be.


End file.
